Road Tolls.......For whom???????

We are currently witnessing rapid developments in the road networks which has always been a vital part of our life. From daily commuters to heavy transporters, everyone intends to have plushy roads which can save ones precious time and money instead of the bumpy and shabby ones which some times proves to be pernicious even to the vehicle and human life. The government is on the plank of massive road development programmes through private sector, which will recoup its investment through tolls. According to the notifications issued by the government, toll rates are fixed on the basis of the percentage of savings that a vehicle will make after the roads are widened or improved. But if studied deeply the overall savings are null because of the consumed time and burning of the fuel at the long queues during the payment of the tolls at the toll gates. What if someone doesn’t wants to pay the stiff tolls and instead ply using the normal roads which is his fundamental right to move freely after the payment of road tax on registration of his vehicle, is there any alternative route provided for such people or is it mandatory to use the toll roads making it a real business? The government definitely has to either review it’s policies in respect of road sector taxation or has to explicate the reason for lagging behind in infrastructure despite collecting appropriate taxes from the public, why every time the common man is raised as the whipping boy for the faults of the government? Perhaps it’s the public who is paying the tolls and not the Transport Minister.

Waivers wave

The Rs.60,000-crore largesse to the peasants announced by the Centre is just a gimmickry act for securing their vote banks. Such act has no doubt brought a smile on the faces of the debt ridden peasants but would not be able to keep that smile perpetual. India, with adequate rainfall, favorable climate, enormous biological diversities, and excellent agricultural practices, has no reason to face agrarian crisis and, given nature’s bounty, its farmers have no reason to commit suicide. The Government can’t escape from it’s onus just by waiving off the loans once. What if the peasants are unable to reap the benefits from the loans given again or in the situation of gluts? The root cause of the failures should be excavated. Where the production is scanty the Government should provide proper water supply for irrigation, hybrid seeds and proper guidelines for the protection of the crops from destructive viruses etc. to achieve high yielding potentials. And where the production is enormous the peasants should be provided with proper help lines from trained technical teams and facilities of storage for releasing their heaped produce in the market to get the best revenue hence avoiding the situation of gluts. Such steps of the Government would definitely make the farmer more independent rather than being dependable on banks hence alleviating the despair of the farmers.

Punjab Budget 2008-09

As the new financial year is just to begin everyone tries to decipher their dreams from the upcoming budget. Every time the budget is announced the noose gets tightened for some and loosened for others as per the relish. It's quite hard to predict that whether the upcoming budget will gratify the common man by casting sign of improvement in his vulnerable financial status, or will it go off the track and prove futile by tantalizing everyone. The recent hefty hikes in the prices of most of the vital commodities including the petrol, LPG and electricity tariffs making them dearer has shattered the dreams of the common man. All this indicates that the upcoming budget is just going to be a gift wrapped in a nutshell.
The budget by now would have been firmly finalized and the basic fabric been laid out, so there is hardly any possibility for the Government to tailor it as per the voice of the common man. But still the Government should keep in view that Punjab has recently been in the highlights because of mass suicides by the farmers and having the maximum number of dropouts from schools. Though the salaried group can somehow cope up with the shortfalls in the budget but what about those who are surviving in the BPL categories and the debt ridden farmers? The budget should mainly emphasize on strengthening these backbones of the nation. The Atta-Dal Scheme announced by the Congress Government and acted upon by the SAD Government has not been able to bring big smiles on the faces of the beneficiaries as the served product has not been able to clear the benchmarks of quality.Budget should be announced keeping in view the requirements of every sector bringing a state of equilibrium; the onus hence lies on the Finance Minister.

Power Crisis in Punjab

It's quite lament that the first and the foremost thing that any new Government does after acceding the ruling status is to adopt a hypercritical nature towards it's predecessor and to make perjures for bringing immense changes in their State for the better upliftment of it's residents during their reign yielding nothing in real. Election campaigns are held on the basis of tangible issues like eradication of power crisis and thereafter the assured promises such as making Punjab a 'power surplus' state gets vanished and nothing is done on the related issues.
These days the power crisis is tantalizing the locals and the industrialists more than the glittering yellow metal 'gold'. The assent of both the SAD-BJP lead and the Congress Government towards providing free power to the farmers just to secure their so called vote banks has worsen the power situation in the state. No doubt, lesser rains has plummeted the generation of power but the issue related to the refusal of the Railway Department to transport the coal to the thermal power units because of the non clearance of the long pending dues by the State Government can't just be ignored. The Government has been hiking the power tariffs from time to time and the consumers are paying for it, when the consumers are clearing their electricity bills on time then what hampers the State Government from clearing it's own dues well on time or to buy power from other States. Instead hefty power cuts are imposed and consumers are asked to use CFLs to meet the power crisis paralysing the life of the industries and the locals. But no concrete action is taken towards MC for glowing street lights during the day time for several hours or towards the PSEB whose own head quarters at Patiala glows with several bulbs and tube lights at nights to give it the ostentatious looks as of a Palace.
The Government should not sprawl back but should work seriously to solve such issues otherwise it's not quite far for another revolt to begin.

Breach in the Traffic Rules

The recently announced sharp hike in traffic penalties by the Chandigarh Administration did not show any sign of protest because such announcements are made for the law offenders and not for the law observers and is over all in public interest. But how come the Administration is so assertive towards its steps to bring any drastic change is still a riddle wrapped in an enigma, as it’s seen that the Administration’s own traffic cops are first ones to breach the laws and the rest of the public follows the suit. The traffic cops themselves feel more honored in the breach than in the observance. The vicious cops are often seen on the road sides asking their shares from the offenders for escaping them from the heavy penalties imposed on them. Though the percentage of such mules is negligible in the Chandigarh Administration as compared to its vicinity states but somehow it still hampers and tarnishes the Administrations steps for road safety. The penalties imposed are higher as compared to the share to be given to the cops for the escape so who will worry for the offence. The traffic cops have to exonerate themselves from impeaches of corruption and get hold on the offenders stringently then only the citizens would get proper safety on roads

Indirect Democracy

There isn’t need of Panches/Sarpanches who just only beguiles the public by bragging about being jingoist and the measures being taken by them for the welfare of the public, we indeed need well educated ones who can really do something for the progress of the villages with their wider vision of philanthropy. The Panches/Sarpanches are expected to proxy for those who are being represented. They should have the capability to filter the demands of the public through their ideological prism and are obliged to ensure that something positive is done about the pressing problems of their villages with vested interest. The Government’s foisting decision of naming the Sarpanch as per the ruling party’s choice is just jeopardizing the citizen’s fundamental right. What’s the difference between the era where we Indians were being ruled by the British and the current situation where we are being governed by politicians who are not of our choice, it’s just like the situation ‘between the devil and the deep Blue Sea’. The Government should focus on the tangible issues related to the development of the villages and it’s residents and should not hurt the sentiments of it’s citizens by reducing their right to choose their representatives.

Money Monster

The rapid changes in the socio-economic trends in leading a congenial and comfortable life has created an inclination of fantasy world amongst the naive rural generation. The rural generation gets tantalized by the luxurious life of the Urban residents. This generation while trying to establish itself in the ravishing and plushy urban world concedes itself alienated and hence thinks to meliorate their deteriorating image. The erection of a spectacular abode with a parked car instead of tractors to plough in the midst of green fields is now the vital hallmark of the rural farmer's life, which is purely the impact of such hindrances. The thing to be lamented on is that to maintain this interim ostentatious image the farmers are ready to loose even their legacies, jeopardizing the future needs of the families too, but still their thirst doesn‘t gets quenched. People should understand that though real estate is a booming sector but it requires proper safe handling of the money for their future needs. Instead of imitating the urban world the farmer should concentrate on his farming and try to generate his revenues from it or he might be landing on the brink of collapse of his ostentatious empire.

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